Kellogg planning staff cuts as snap goes out of sales November 4, 2013 KELLOGG, the world’s largest maker of breakfast cereals, said yesterday it would slash capacity and cut about seven per cent of its workforce by 2017, after reporting another quarterly decline in sales in its cereals business. Kellogg reported a better-than-expected adjusted profit for the third quarter ended 28 September, helped by cost cuts. Sales at [...]
Bargain Booze owner reports better trading since flotation November 4, 2013 BARGAIN Booze owner Conviviality Retail, which raised £64m in an Aim listing earlier this year, said yesterday its first half like-for-likes sales had crept up by 0.6 per cent. The firm said the increase was mainly due to reducing the number of underperforming stores in its portfolio, and that it expected to continue to perform [...]
Vodka maker narrows losses November 4, 2013 BLAVOD Wines & Spirits yesterday posted operating losses of £229,000 for the six months to 30 September, halving losses as profits from its owned brands rose by 21 per cent. The owner of Blackwoods gin and Blavod Black Vodka reduced financing costs by 68 per cent during its first half and slashed staffing costs by [...]
Hiscox profits from low level of catastrophes November 4, 2013 LLOYD’S insurer Hiscox yesterday revealed a 10 per cent annual growth in premiums to a value of £1.37bn as it gave results for the first nine months of the year. The upmarket insurer, headquartered in Bermuda, attributed the rise to “good growth in insurance business” coupled with “a low level of catastrophes”. However, it said [...]
Investor moves into Greenwich November 4, 2013 HONG KONG investor Knight Dragon has taken full ownership of a development in south east London’s Greenwich Peninsula after paying its British partner Quintain Estates £186m for its 40 per cent stake. Knight Dragon, an investment vehicle owned by New World Development Co’s chairman Henry Cheng Kar-Shun, bought its 60 per cent share in the [...]
Insured loss from St Jude storm to reach up to $1.8bn in Europe November 4, 2013 INSURERS will have to pay out up to €1.3bn (£1.1bn) in claims after the storm that swept through northern Europe in late October, broker Willis Re estimates. Northern Europe was battered by hurricane strength winds between 27-29 October, with Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany bearing the brunt of the damage to property. [...]
Investment into UK energy sector rose to £11.6bn last year November 4, 2013 PRIVATE sector investment in the UK’s energy sector rose to £11.6bn last year, a £1.6bn rise from the year before, new research said yesterday. The investment led to a £24bn direct contribution into the UK economy and over 600,000 jobs, according to a report by Ernst & Young for industry body Energy UK. The energy [...]
Audi sticks to profit margin goal despite higher costs of growth November 4, 2013 GERMAN luxury-car maker Audi stuck to its full-year profit target yesterday even as higher costs of plants and technology inflicted a double-digit drop in third-quarter earnings. Audi reaffirmed its goal to achieve an operating profit margin at the upper end of a target range between eight per cent and 10 per cent this year, even [...]
EU aims for end in Gazprom antitrust probe November 4, 2013 THE EUROPEAN Commission expects to wrap up an investigation by the spring into suspected anti-competitive market practices by Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, the EU energy commissioner said yesterday. The Commission’s action against Gazprom is likely to ratchet up the tension between Europe and Russia, which has criticised EU attempts to boost competition in the [...]
Weir Group plummets on 2013 profit warning November 4, 2013 FTSE 100-listed engineer Weir Group saw its shares plummet yesterday morning after it warned that its full-year profit would miss analysts’ expectations, joining a host of mining equipment makers hit by cost cutting at mining companies. Peers such as Caterpillar, Sandvik, and Atlas Copco have all seen order bookings fall this year as lower metal [...]
